My first encounter with dubstep music was through a viral video on Youtube by experienced dancer (of 17 years) Marquese Scott -
This video of him popping to Butch Clancy’s remix of 'Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People' has since become a Youtube classic. Like the 37 million viewers of the video, I was captivated by how the 30 year old Tunisian is able to translate electronic dance music into a visual spectacle.
PopQuiz: What is Dubstep?
Dubstep is a category of electronic dance music (EDM for short) that came out of South London, United Kingdom. The music is characterized by its boisterous bass lines and reverberant patterns composed of percussions, various sound clips and vocals.
I set out to look for more people who were translating dubstep music into remarkable performances - here are 5 of them which stood out to me -
1) Dubstep Dancing by WHZGUD2
The first entry on my list appropriately features the pop-locker who got me interested in this genre of music; in this video, 'Nonstop AKA' Marquese Scott takes his dubstep dance routine to China, or more specifically, the Great Wall. I half thought that the setting was a really well done CG background, but Marquese stated in his video that he was indeed in China -
"Another concept I shot in China of me dancing on the Great Wall, yes I was really on the Great Wall. :) I was in China for the "Booey Lehoo" Concert and Arts week organised by APSA (Americans Promoting Study Abroad), helping to raise money and awareness for young people to travel abroad for study and life changing experiences."
The socially conscious Youtube sensation does a quick dance set atop the oriental landmark - I felt that this particular number was really energetic - the scenic locale also added to the performance.
2) Dubstep Beatboxing by Dave Crowe
I've heard a good number of dubstep beatboxing on Youtube, but in my opinion, Dave Crowe does the best dubstep beatboxing - his oral reproduction of the bass notes and the cold electronic synths are rich sounding and powerful - all of these beats come together in a catchy arrangement to make his performance noteworthy - further evidence of his brilliant performance can be seen at 1:04 into the video, where a little girl in blue striped blouse is having her first taste of dubstep and really enjoying it - I'll be keeping a lookout for her dubstep dance video in a couple of years time.
At around 1:30, Dave Crowe *dropped the bass, it was impressive. Very very impressive.
PopQuiz: What does 'Drop the Bass' mean?
Drop the bass is one of the distinctive features of dubstep music where the percussions pause for a second before resuming with a heavier bassline.
3) Dubstep Violin by Lindsey Stirling
Ok, so now you know that you can render dubstep with your body and your mouth - but what about performing the low bassy electronic music with a high pitched instrument such as a violin? I found the answer in hip hop violinist Lindsey Stirling's orchestral take on dubstep music, "Crystallize".
While the composition of the violin and the electronic synths are quite harmonious - I felt that the dubstep music played second fiddle (pun intended) to the violin - it sounded like 2 separate pieces of music overlaid onto each other - however, this video has garnered over 7.5 million views on Youtube - there's a significant probability that you might disagree with me and find this to be the most brilliant piece of dubstep you've ever heard - that is if you like your dubstep music with as little dubstep as possible.
4) Dubstep Beatmaking byAraabMuzik
When writing for this blog, I often get criticized for being easily impressed by people - so when I saw a video of American hip hop music producer AraabMuzik remixing Skrillex's dubstep hits at a stupefying pace on his MCP drum machine, I terminated my Internet service and retreated into a secluded countryside to avoid being dazzled ever again.
Abraham Orellana's (a.k.a AraabMuzik) claim to fame is his impeccable skills for making live music and beats on his drum machine - the music producer of Dominican descent is lauded for his ability to create rapid, rhythmic drum patterns and melodies using various samples and sounds all at once. The video above is one such showcase of his remarkable skill and to be honest, I'm gobsmacked by his performance.
5) Dubstep Dance by La Preuve par 4
La Preuve Par 4 are a French group of street dancers made up of Marion Motin, Julie Moreau, Nicolas Medea and Marvin Gofin- in this video, the masked performers are putting on a well synchronized and entertaining number in an international dancing competition - Juste Debout 2010. Although the space of dance is highly competitive and it's populated by giants like Jabbawockeez and Diversity - it doesn't take away from how entertaining this video is.
I thought that the group dynamics of this dubstep dance made the performance great - the parts where 3 of their members would freeze while one of their teammates continued to dance and then they'd all resume from their static positions in a synchronous manner was especially notable. There's a good amount of krumping, pop-locking, robot and breakdance thrown into their routine - the variety and arrangement is remarkable!
In Closing
I hope that you've enjoyed the list that I've put together - I had fun gathering all these videos and discovering even more outstanding content along the way. If you have a similarly themed video - that is a performance revolving around dubstep music - do share them with me and the readers in the comment boxes below :)
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By Herman Soh
